HOLLYWOOD ? There was little doubt Manny Pacquiao could knock a guy as huge and as strong as Antonio Margarito.
Especially if he?s in the fighting shape that he used to be.
Alex Ariza, the strength and conditioning coach of the world?s top pound-for-pound king, said the Pacquiao of old, who similarly brutalized Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto, could have taken down the 5-foot-11 Margarito and win by knockout instead of settling for a one-sided unanimous decision.
Preparing for the Margarito fight, Pacquiao only had the luxury of training for a total of seven weeks, the early part of which was even marred by a lot of distractions that goes with the Filipino boxing superstar?s other job as congressman of the province of Sarangani.
Things changed when Pacquiao started working out at the Wild Card gym where did he finally able to keep focus on his training and the fight itself.
?If you put it all together, and you make it one consistent seven-week trip and train the way we trained in the past, that fight is over in seven or eight rounds,” Ariza disclosed.
Bombarding the 32-year-old Mexican with just about every punches there is in boxing, Pacquiao had Margarito on the verge of going down several times during the action-packed bout witnessed by a crowd of 41,734.
But he came up short unleashing the killer blows, and again, conditioning had something to do with it.
?When Manny had him hurt and wobbled, he didn?t have it right, that?s when we really, really need it,” Ariza said. ?And a lot of the commentators said we don?t really see the spring in his legs like he had in the later rounds. I think that was the product of us not really focusing on the other work.”
Ariza likened the situation on chopping down a big tree with the benefit of a small medium.
?You?re chopping down a big tree with a little ax instead of a big ax,” he said.
?That?s why I think sometimes when you take short cuts, there are lessons that you pay at the end. I knew Manny?s gonna win, but at what cost? So I think we saw a little bit of that (Saturday) night.”
Not to take away anything from the Mexican warrior, Ariza said Margarito indeed, was a giant in the ring.
He said the 17-pound difference between them when they entered the ring was a major factor that played in the fight, where Pacquiao was a huge 5-1 favorite.
?I think there?s a big difference in the ring, that?s why Manny got a little tired. I?ve never seen Manny get tired before,” he added.
The experience of fighting an opponent that weighed more than as a middleweight as in the case of Margarito on fight night (165 lb), convinced Ariza that this would be the last time the eight-time world champion would be fighting as a super-welterweight.
?I hope so (last fight at 150). Manny and I talked about it today and we?re kind of done with this. I think it lost its appeal for us to keep trying to push it. When is enough, enough? Until we get him hurt? At what point is enough?,” said the Colombian trainer.
Again, Ariza is convinced that if Pacquiao was in the condition he was in his last two fights, the title match could have ended many wanted it to be ? via a knockout.
?I still think if we?re in (Miguel) Cotto or (Joshua) Clottey?s shape, we could still knock him out,” he said. ?For sure.” – RCJ, GMANews.TV
